HOW EASY IT IS by The Watchman

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Oct 9, 1884

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 38.

HOW EASY IT IS.

By The Watchman

How EASY it is to spoil a day! The thoughtless word of a cherished friend, The selfish act of a child at play, The strength of a will that will not bend, The slight of a comrade, the scorn of a foe, The smile that is full of bitter things— They all can tarnish its golden glow, And take the grace from its airy wings.

How easy it is to spoil a day By the force of a thought we did not check; Little by little we mould the clay, And little flaws may the vessel wreck. The careless waste of a white-winged hour, That held the blessings we long had sought, The sudden failure of wealth or power, And, lo! the day with ill inwrought.

How easy it is to spoil a life— And many are spoiled ere well begun— In home-light darkened by sin and strife, Or downward course of a cherished one; By toil that robs the form of its grace And undermines till health gives way; By the peevish temper, the frowning face, The hopes that go and the cares that stay.

A day is too long to be spent in vain; Some good should come as the hours go by; Some tangled maze may be made more plain, Some lowered glance may be raised on high. And life is too short to spoil like this; If only a prelude, it may be sweet. Let us bind together its thread of bliss, And nourish the flowers around our feet.

—The Watchman